representative ron barber narrowly defeated republican martha mcsally to serve his first full term in arizona is hes second district. in june he won gifford's seat in a special election after she stepped down to focus on her recovery after being shot last year. >>> parts of the northeast still need help after superstorm sandy that destroyed their homes, shattered their lives. it happened three weeks ago. vice president joe biden is in new jersey this morning to tour the recovery efforts and thank first responders many some of the hardest hit areas of sea side heights. >>> back to the middle east where violence is ramping up. israel's prime minister says he is prepared to escalate attacks on gaza, and france is sending their foreign minister to help broker a cease-fire deal egypt is standing up for gauze wra. joining me on the phone from houston, texas, is a former u.s. ambassador to israel and syria. ambassador, britainan's former prime minister, or the prime minister currently secretary former -- let's try that dpen. the former secretary and israeli ground invasion of gaza would cost